UCBCares: The Human Touch

In the heart of UCB, where science meets humanity, there exists a department that aims to offer a compassionate, understanding and human touch: UCBCares. A department using an unsolicited approach, dedicated to provide people living with severe diseases and healthcare professionals with helpful information and materials in response to their questions. Just a phone call away. Real people across the globe, offering help and support in an empathic way. Acting as one team, one community to empower their callers and improve the treatment experience.

Let us offer you a glimpse into the world of Maria del Mar Duran, one of the dedicated agents at UCBCares Iberia.

The Role of Compassion in Healthcare

"My job makes me happy, because I really feel I can help people"

Maria is representative of this balance between a compassionate approach and strong expertise. With fifteen years of experience, she is a kind, calm person and a good listener who tries to instill an atmosphere of trust in every professional contact she has.

Her role goes beyond addressing queries; it's about connecting with people living with severe diseases on a human level. Maria's day-to-day responsibilities involve offering support and information to people reaching out to UCB. Always with a touch of compassion that only someone genuinely invested in their wellbeing could provide.

Understanding Patient Needs 

"I start every conversation with an open heart and an open mind."

Maria's interactions range from addressing questions that healthcare professionals have regarding research on certain medicines or treatments to providing a comforting voice during challenging times for people that are facing the disease, be it themselves or someone close to them.

Whether it's finding the right research document or just lending an ear, Maria approaches each question with an understanding that each patient's needs are as unique as their stories. Her sensitivity to these needs – both spoken and unspoken – is what creates the unique care she and her team provide every day.

The Balancing Act

"I prefer to stay as professionally close as I can."

Maria's job, though fulfilling, comes with its own set of challenges. Communicating about medication shortages for example requires a delicate mix of honesty and sensitivity. And since promotion of drugs or giving medical advice is not her role and not allowed, she struggles sometimes to provide people with a way to move forward.The rewards, however, are immeasurable. “The gratitude of a reassured patient, the satisfaction in a doctor's voice, that's what makes it all worthwhile,” she shares. Being able to provide with the contact information of a patient organization, or correct educational information is sometimes just what people need. Maria and her team, with their emotional resilience and professional dedication, exemplify the core values of UCB, a true testament to our commitment to making a significant impact in healthcare.

UCB's Role in Facilitating Care 

Behind Maria's success is UCB's steadfast support. UCB equips their agents with extensive training and resources, ensuring they can offer the best care possible. A comprehensive customer relationship management system is available, offering robust tools for managing interactions with callers. This system not only provides accurate and relevant product information but also integrates seamlessly with other platforms to monitor, track, and report any serious issues that people may encounter. In this way the UCBCares team is able to maintain high standards to ensure compliance and provide the best possible assistance to their callers.
   

Real-Life Impact

One memorable story Maria shares is of a young father worrying about his daughter's recent epilepsy diagnosis. He was specifically worried if she were to have seizures in places like school where he would not be able to help her. Through her conversations, Maria offered hope, telling him about the special awareness campaign in Spain. She was able to send him to a specific UCB website, dedicated to normalize epilepsy, where schools can sign up to download many educational materials such as videos and comics. These can then be used to inform teachers and pupils  about epilepsy.  The father was happy to be able to pass this information on to the school so they would know what a seizure is, not to be afraid of it and understand what to do. And his daughter, she is now in a school that understands what she is going through. Just one of the countless lives Maria has touched.

 "At the end of this very long call I could really feel the impact on this family’s quality of life. Like I switched on a little light in a dark place."

A Personal Mission 

For Maria, working at UCBCares is more than just a career; it's a personal mission. Driven by a passion to help others, every call and every patient is an opportunity to make a meaningful impact. "It's about being more than an agent; it's about being a part of someone's life," Maria says with conviction.

At UCB, we feel very proud to have people like Maria work for us. And we are equally proud that this is what we stand for. A personal, warm and heartfelt healthcare. Through an outstanding dedicated and individual support service that goes the extra mile.

Or, as Maria said it: "At UCBCares, we don't just offer solutions; we offer a part of ourselves. Every patient's story becomes a part of our own, and in helping them, we find our true purpose."

You can read more about UCBCares here UCBCares | UCB